4 takeaways from the NY Giants infuriating loss to the Cowboys

It felt like an upset was there for the taking for the NY Giants, but a rough second half got in the way of them being able to take down the Dallas Cowboys. In the end, America’s Team was able to leave the field with a 28-20 win – doing so after NY was up 13-7 at half.

There’s going to be a lot of talking points following this one, with some bull(expletive) calls from the refs of course being a topic of conversation. Big Blue was robbed on more than one occasion. We cover that and more in our takeaways from the Week 12 showdown.

4. Darius Slayton made the catch of the year for the Giants

Before we get to the negatives, wideout Darius Slayton is going to have to show this catch to his grandchildren. With the Giants down 7-3 in the second quarter, Daniel Jones fired a deep ball downfield in the hopes that Slayton would be able to come down with the pigskin. He did just that. Slayton, in acrobatic fashion, made one of the biggest plays of the year for this team.

Slayton, who had plenty of people calling for him to be traded or released before the start of the season, climbed the ladder for that catch. He brought it down at its highest point, setting up the Giants with 1st-and-goal at the one-yard line.

A Jones QB sneak didn’t go as planned, but Saquon Barkley was there to punch it in for six on the next play. Slayton has really come on strong for the Giants in recent weeks, which was needed in Week 12 with Wan’Dale Robinson suffering his torn ACL in the Week 11 loss to the Detroit Lions.

More of this kind of play from Slayton will be needed in the coming weeks. He’s coming on for Mike Kafka and the offense at the right time. Now, the negatives…

3. Giants were robbed of an Isaiah Hodgins touchdown and more

Brian Daboll was furious here and rightfully so. Early on in the first quarter, the Giants were hoping to make a splash, and they appeared to do so on a touchdown catch for Isaiah Hodgins. Boom, right? Nope. Instead, offensive tackle Trye Phillips was called for being an ineligible man downfield. You be the judge:

That’s indeed a ticky-tack call and one that should have never been made. In a rivalry game, there’s absolutely no excuses for the refs to have an impact on the outcome. To take away six points off the board is back-breaking, no question about it. Just how irate was Daboll? Probably the most mad we’ve ever seen him.

Yeah, Daboll won’t be sending this officiating crew any holiday gifts this year. Throughout the fall, the G-Men have had to overcome some awful, awful calls that have gone against them. You can go ahead and add this ineligible man downfield penalty to the list. It should have never happened and Hodgins should have been able to celebrate one of the biggest catches of his life.

Oh, and let’s not forget the two phantom holding calls against the Giants when trying to cover CeeDee Lamb. One of those calls early on in the third quarter was one of the worst we’ve ever seen and it let to a touchdown for the Cowboys. Thanks for nothing, zebras.

2. Wink Martindale did his best to try and get the job done

It’s impossible to not have respect for Giants defensive coordinator Wink Marindale. Regardless of the outcome in this one, Martindale has to be praised for the job he did. This team is dealing with an insane amount of injuries in the secondary, with Adoree’ Jackson and Fabian Moreau the latest guys to get banged up.

Despite that, Martindale still found a way to make Dak Prescott’s life difficult early on. The blitzes kept coming, with Rodarius Wilson recording the first interception of the day on the Dallas signal-caller. Then later on in the action, with Prescott trying to find Lamb, Julian Love was there to make a huge play for Big Blue’s defense too. Again, the pressure was on Dak.

Kayvon Thibodeaux was constantly in the Dallas backfield, putting pressure on Prescott. This is just what the doctor ordered. At the end of the day, though, the defense didn’t do enough to keep Dallas in check from start to finish. The bogus calls from the refs sure didn’t help Martindale, though.In the first 30 minutes, the defense was amazing. Giving up three touchdowns in the second half changed the script.

1. Missed opportunities will haunt the Giants after this loss

This is a game that’s really going to sting for a while. In a rivlary game like this, you always want to stick it to your enemy. The opportunity was there for the Giants to come away with a win, but there were just some times in the ball game where they just weren’t able to exexcute on both sides of the ball.

The Daulton Schultz touchdown on 3rd-and-goal from the 15-yard line was deflating. How in the world did that happen? That gave the Cowboys a ton of momentum in the second half and the crowd really started to come alive. Then after that, the biggest play of the game: the 4th-down pass attempt to Barkley.

The Giants drew up the right play, but the delivery from Jones was just a bit off. Still, it hit Barkley in the hands and that’s a ball he brings in nine times out of 10. On this occasion, he didn’t, and it opened the door for Prescott to hit Schultz for another touchdown, giving the Cowboys a 21-13 lead. If Barkley makes that catch, who knows what might have happened.

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